


Every Three Times

by xxELF21xx



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 14:34:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4628880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxELF21xx/pseuds/xxELF21xx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every three times Kei looks at his freckled friend; he feels something different. </p><p>He doesn't want things to change, but things don't go his way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Every Three Times

**Author's Note:**

> This.... came out of no where. I swear, this is absolute trash. Read at your own risk. Hints of Yamaguchi baking and being Yamaguchi. I also dub this fic as "What Happens When I Watch Kekkaishi All Over Again".

The first time Kei looked at him,  _he's pathetic_ came to mind. Small, frail, timid; came slowly after. Kei walks away after that, but can't seem to shake off the look of hurt the boy—what's his name?—gives him. 

The second time happened quite soon, actually. In school; Kei finds himself letting the boy "befriend" him. His name was Yamaguchi Tadashi. He calls Kei "Tsukki". He's okay with being insulted, until he started crying because he's been insulted too long. He likes it that no one recognises him. He plays volleyball. Kei can't help but look at Yamaguchi every time in practice, to see if the idiot had hurt himself. He didn't. He worries over Yamaguchi sometimes.

The third time, was every day. Every day, he'd look at the shorter boy eat cake happily to and from school. Sharing things like the strawberry atop the cake, to a bite of the cake itself. There was once, when Yamaguchi gave him the entire slice, 'have it!' He smiled. Kei accepted it, and they walked in comfortable silence to school. Until, Yamaguchi started nudging Kei. A warm feeling spreads throughout his body when he heard Yamaguchi laugh. 

This happens all throughout junior high. Kei's learnt to control his emotions.

 _'Say what you mean, tell me I'm right. And when the—'_ Kei feels a hand tug his headphones. He glares at Yamaguchi, who was— Why the hell was Yamaguchi blushing like he's just kissed someone? 'Tsukki!' He giggles, face turning even redder. Kei narrows his eyes. Scrutinizing his friend, who was red faced, high off something, and absolutely happy; Kei feels jealous. It's the third feeling he's felt that day. Kei puts his headphones back properly, allowing Panic! At The Disco to distract him while Yamaguchi blabbers something about a new best friend. Kei ignored him, Yamaguchi pulled that once; when Kei started ignoring Yamaguchi for a whole month because of something trivial. Kei can't remember what they fought over. But he could bet it was over the strawberry atop a piece of strawberry shortcake. Kei had panicked and pulled the "I'm not letting you go until you're mine again". Kei could remember the way he possesively held Yamaguchi in his room when Atikeru came in yelling 'practice volley—' and then screaming, 'YAMAGUCHI?!?!' Kei had to let Yamaguchi go, he did so—albeit reluctant.

And from then on, Kei never believed Yamaguchi had new best friends as the smaller boy later cried and admitted he'd lied to Kei. Kei didn't really care. As long as no one stole Yamaguchi Tadashi, he was fine. Although; he'd give Yamaguchi up for four hours to watch Jurassic World. Just  _four hours._  

But this was.... different. Yamaguchi spoke with halting sentences the other time. This time, it was fast, happy. Kei's mood dwindled down and he started sulking. 

The next two days, Yamaguchi didn't go to practice. All but Kei knew where Yamaguchi went. Hinata, who was quiet and stuck close to Suga- _san_ and Kageyama, finally stopped fidgeting—it was a nervous "should I tell him or not?" fidget and not the usual "let's practice and have fun and improve and I'm excited" fidget Kei was used to—and went to Kei; dragging Noya and Asahi with him. Hiding behind Asahi—who looked as apologetic as Noya did, and Noya was hardly apologetic—Hinata said, 'Yamaguchi's practicing with Nekoma's Kuroo and the Great King.' Kei paused, dropping his towel. Hinata flinched, 'I heard from Kenma, he just texted asking why Yamaguchi wasn't practicing with us.' Noya laughed uneasily, 'maybe little Yamaguchi—' He cut himself off, when he realized he had no reason to give Kei. 

Kei shrugged, and proceeded to block Kageyama's service aces. Kageyama complied, not fighting with Kei. Kei could still hear Asahi tell Hinata to 'get Yamaguchi back, Tsukishima looks scary.' Noya looks like he'd ready to take something on. Kei wishes Noya would hit the childish Great King and messy Cat. Practice ended with tension that day. 

Hinata was about to go home with Kageyama when Kei taps Hinata's shoulders. Kageyama nods and jogs away. Hinata shrieks and grips his bag tightly. Kei rolls his eyes and  _politely asks_ Hinata to accompany him to wherever those three were practicing at. Hinata nods and they dash for Seijou. 

Iwaizumi, who greeted the two crows, grumbled something about Oikawa missing practice and leads them to the other court. Instead of hearing shouting and balls smacking the floor, the three hear laughter and jokes. Iwaizumi swears to 'floor Trashkawa', Hinata exclaims that he could hear a 3DS too. They reach, and Kei scowls; true enough, Kuroo, Oikawa, Kenma and Yamaguchi were all there. Kuroo had an arm thrown over an unresponsive Kenma who was busy clicking controls, Oikawa was tossing a volleyball in the air, and trying to smack it to strike a bottle to the floor—it failed, causing a round of laughter to ensue. Yamaguchi was pink faced, eyes screwed shut as he laughed and launched the ball at the bottle. It went the other way, and Yamaguchi opened his eyes just in time to see Kei catch the ball, angry and deadly. Hinata flits between Kei and Iwaizumi, nervous. Yamaguchi stops smiling. 'T-Tsukki.' Yamaguchi greets. It was the first time Kei felt a fourth feeling looking at Yamaguchi. This morning, it was amusement—Yamaguchi forgot to pack a cake for his walk-along breakfast (Kei calls it _second breakfast_ , much to Yamaguchi's chagrin) and Yamaguchi laments quietly. The second was pride—Yamaguchi had scored a perfect mark for his test, and Kei had helped him prepare for it. The third was confusion—when Yamaguchi disappeared from practice.

The fourth one, Kei noted, was hate. He didn't really know how it escalated to hate, but he knew one thing: Yamaguchi got tired of him. Kei never answers the other boy never properly greets him, never does anything best friends should do (except for the one time Kei kept Yamaguchi in his house to prevent the other "best friend" Yamaguchi had. They dubbed it the "Impromptu Sleep over"). Of  _fucking_ course Yamaguchi would get tired of him.

Kei tosses the ball back to a quiet Yamaguchi and walks out the court. Hinata follows wordlessly, the message Kei gave was "let's go". Kei places his headphones on and ignores Hinata. Blasting his music to the max, he silently fumes. He doesn't realise how fast he was walking until he feels the floor vibrate and  _something_ land on his back. A pair of small hands grapple at Kei's throat, and Kei had time to register a 'you're walking too fast!', Kei nods and waits for Hinata to get off him. "We can go now?" He sees Hinata say. Kei continues to walk. 

The both of them end up racing against the unstoppable time as the sky darkens. They both split at an intersection with Hinata yelling 'don't get mad at him!' Kei conveniently ignores him. Walking up the path that stretches to his house, he can't help but feel dread because he would still have to see Yamaguchi the next morning. He would worry later, Kei decides. 

 

+

 

The next day started an hour earlier for Kei, who went to school an hour earlier than he would normally do so. Winding down the path that would bring him to school, he meets face-to-face with Nekoma's messy Cat. 'Sup.' The Cat greeted casually, Kei ignores him. Kuroo falls in step with him. 'Listen, Tsukishima.' Kei narrowly glares at his shoes. 'It was us, Oikawa and me, that decided training with Yamaguchi was gonna be fun, we told him not to tell you. I mean, c'mon, let it go this once. Yamaguchi looked so lost last night after you left. Blame it on us.' Kei says nothing, Kuroo sighs. 'Look, I mean it. Blame us, kay? See ya next practice match, Tsukishima Kei.' Kei enters the school alone for the first time in _ages._

Yamaguchi always had a magnet or thread that allowed him to find Kei; sometimes, Kei is thankful for it, but other times, not so much. This happened to be one of the "other times". Kei was sitting on the curb near the school's garden, headphones on and bento empty, distracted by the ever spinning paper windmills that perched atop the fencing of the garden. He closed his eyes, leaning against the wall behind him, letting the voices of One Direction drag him away from the world. He feels the ground vibrate slightly and feels the cement being scraped by shoes. He feels a slight puff and pant of breaths and a mouth open to say his name. He's been dreading this. He opens his eyes and glances to the left. Yamaguchi says his name at that time as well. 'Tsukki.' The way his voice twists from a "hello" to a "how" mesmerises Kei. From years of listening to music through headphones at loud volumes, Kei had developed a sense of knowing what was coming from where, through vibrations and feeling for something non-existent. And also who and what was coming for him. Kei doesn't greet Yamaguchi-as usual-and Yamaguchi sits next to him, smashing their sides together. This felt a lot like the Impromptu Sleep over.  _Yamaguchi would say, 'I'm sorry.'  I would forgive him and everything would go back to normal._ Yamaguchi whispers, 'I really wanted to have fun without telling you.' Kei felt surprised. 'So I'm not sorry. But! You're still my best,  _best_ friend! i promise!' Followed by a, 'I'm allowed to hog you all day and use you as a pillow?' Kei snorts, 'we've been doing that since the Impromptu Sleep over. Tell me, did you have your Second Breakfast today?' Yamaguchi cries indignantly, 'it  _isn't_ a second breakfast! And no.' He takes out a box, 'so I'm having my cake now.' Kei feels disappointment when he looks at the box and then Yamaguchi. 'You didn't pack one for me.' Yamaguchi smiles, 'I thought we could share.' Kei agrees, feeling happiness bloom inside him.

Everything falls back into step, at least, Kei assumes. 

 

+

 

He was sure he felt three feelings that day, already. 

That morning, he felt tired seeing Yamaguchi so  _hyped._ Yamaguchi ran to meet Kei, boxes in hand. He passes the box with dinosaurs dotted across the box to Kei, and smiles excitedly when Kei opens it. Instead of the usual white cream cake with a strawberry or a strawberry shortcake, he sees a  _chocolate cake with an Oreo on top_. Kei stares dumbly at the cake, whilst Yamaguchi tells him that he'd spent 'three whole hours getting the recipe and a few other hours getting it right'. Kei relents, picking up the dinosaur designed fork and cutting a piece of the cake for him to try. It was a nice change, the milk chocolate melting nicely in his mouth while he chews slowly. He can't help but feel shocked to find a taste of strawberries in them. Yamaguchi beams  _splendidly_   and eats his cake as well. 'It's better than I thought it would be.' The both of them walk in comfortable silence the rest of the way to school. Is it because Yamaguchi ate chocolate last night that he's so energetic this morning? Kei should really start sleeping earlier. 

He feels amazed when Yamaguchi manages to  _fall asleep_ in class. Staring at the boy, Kei realizes that Yamaguchi msut've spent the entire night preparing the cake. He waits until lunch to wake Yamaguchi up and pass him the notes Yamaguchi's missed. 'Don't forgo sleep for something like that again, call me over next time.' Yamaguchi flushes and nods his head.

After school, during practice, Yamaguchi shocks Kei by confessing that he fancies Kei. Kei drops the volleyball, mind reeling. He's was sure he felt three feelings that day, already. Coach Ukai sighs and calls for a break. Hinata, Noya, Tanaka and Suga- _san_ cheer for Yamaguchi while Kageyama, Asahi, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Narita and Daichi tried to shut them up. Kiyoko and Yachi roll their eyes, whispering, 'about time.' Kei blinks, rolls his eyes and tells Yamaguchi, 'I'm only supposed to feel three different feelings for you. Stop making it more than that.' Hinata then pointedly yells out, 'Kageyama! Doesn't that mean that Tsukishima will feel one constant feeling for Yamaguchi everyday?' Kagyema hits the orangedl haired idiot, 'the hell are you telling me?' Kei blushes, and replies—he turns his head away, not being able to bear the look of "please tell me Hinata's right" Yamaguchi gives him—, 'he's right.'

The team decides to throw a party after that. And Kageyama dubs it as "The Celebration Where The Ice King Melts". Kei decided to use "Anniversary". 

Though, the bad thing is, after the Anniversary,; the Karasuno Volleyball Club ended up having more (predictable) couples. Kei just tells Yamaguchi to ignore the others while he steals his boyfriend from practicing his serves to kiss and cuddle for a while. The others were doing the same with their respective partners.

Now, all Kei's got to do is predict that the Cats get together—Kuroo and Kenma—as well as the Great King and his Brave Knight—Oikawa and the daring Iwaizumi—and Kei decides to plot it with the team.

  


+

  


_'That,'_  Daichi says, 'sounds workable. Let's do it.'  


**Author's Note:**

> What not sleeping does to you. Never again, I'm never doing this again. 
> 
> I've got ten words to spin a story up: three, hate, impromptu, second, fidget, disco, cake, wordlessly, unstoppable, doable. 
> 
> EDIT: I realised I wrote "Tokyo's Seijoh" and "Nekoma—the same prefecture [as Karasuno]". My deepest apologies, I was really tired. 
> 
> By the way, i imagine Tsukki to have a wide range of music selections, he doesn't really have a favourite, so he tests every genre and every artist/band. In the end, he can't really bear the thought of deleting a certain song; since he's so used to seeing it in his playlists, so he keeps it. And listens to it sometimes when he feels like it. Comment if you can relate to this, 'cause I totally can!


End file.
